Formerly a design director for New York’s Tihany Design and a recipient of HD’s Wave of the Future award, interior designer, graphic artist, and painter Rafael Alvarez was born in the Dominican Republic and graduated the University National Pedro Henrizquez Urena with a degree in fine arts and architecture, and later was an artist-in-residence, art director, and instructor at Altos de Chavon School of Design in Santo Domingo, an affiliate of New York’s Parsons School of Design. In 2004, he formed Alvarez+Brock Design with partner Brannen Brock. Here, Alvarez talks growing up in a third-world country, creating restaurants that are experiences, and his constant sketching.
Did you always know you wanted to be a designer?
When I first started out, I was really a painter (fine artist). I wanted to do a lot more things, and being a designer allowed me to do a lot more exploration.
What are some of your first memories of design?
Toys. I grew up in the Dominican Republic—a third-world country with limited resources. The first thing that you learn is to make your own toys. My first one was a TV. I used clay, a piece of glass from a bottle, and an image from a magazine.
Did where you grew up influence your career path?
Of course with limited access you can became more creative. You educate yourself about many things. You have a curiosity for everything that happens in the world outside of yours. You see the world in the different ways, the colors, and the beauty in everything.
Give us a bit of your background: college, first jobs, early lessons learned?
When I was 11 years old I won a competition that included a scholarship to a very expensive fine arts school. For 5 years I went to (high) school in the morning and fine arts school in the afternoon. This opened the door for many national and international awards in fine arts for me. Being a painter was not a profession at that time, so at 16 decided to go to architectural school. My first semester I was hired to work for a company as a designer but my school schedule, plus my obligations with a gallery only allowed me to work from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. I am enjoyed that work a lot. Lesson learned: great discipline and a passion for everything that I do.
Why and how did you start your own firm?
There came a time in my life when I needed to grow more and expand my ideas, and point of view. That is the time when you have to start your own company. I just had my drafting table (a present from my former boss), my colored pencils, my hands, and my brain. I still draw by hand.
Can you discuss some of your recent projects?
I am doing a new interior for a restaurant I designed in the Dominican Republic. It will be a lush interior with very unique screen dividers in the dining room and very hip and dynamic new bar. I am also working on a 49-room boutique hotel in the mountains outside of Beijing, and finalizing the details of a 30,000-square-foot residence in Shanghai.
Is there a challenging project that you are especially proud of?
Yes, the next one.
What are you looking forward to at your office?
I want to have the opportunity to create more places, to bring new concepts. It is something I feel has gotten lost in the globalization that is making everything look the same. I am always challenging myself to do something new that I have not seen before.
What do you find are the most challenging and exciting aspects of your job?
I do not repeat myself. Everyday I have to bring something new to my table—that can be a chair, a new idea for an interior, or just a fork. I sketch constantly everyday.
What is the most important thing to remember when designing a restaurant—both in terms of branding and interiors?
Restaurants must be an experience. People do not really go out because they are hungry. They are looking for something they don’t have at home. I never believed in “eating like at home.” Otherwise just stay home.
Graphics and branding are extremely important. They are the first sign of what that place is all about.
Is there an architect or designer you most admire? Why?
Mies van der Rohe. I hated his work when I started architecture school. With time, I asked myself, why? Then I read almost every book about his work that I could find. I also had the opportunity to be in many of his places. I learned a lot about proportion, simplicity, and quality, and the most important thing: Don’t follow trends.
What would be your dream project and why?
I think more about my dream client than my dream project. What I mean by that is the client who wants to do something different, something special with great quality, who has dreams and is open to take risks—and make it happen.
If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?
Louis Isidore Khan and Mies van der Rohe.
Where would you eat and what would you be having?
I do not want to eat. I just want to drink martinis at the Four Seasons Bar.
If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?
A painter, again.
